Imagine you have been at home in a church or free church all your life, but have set out on the path to a new understanding, at least inwardly, and are now wondering how a community can be formed. The new understanding may no longer fit in with the community you are part of. Since many people are embarking on the path to a new Christianity in this way, the question arises:

Is it time for a new kind of community? Or: What are the characteristics of a community to which I would like to belong?

Exclusive or inclusive?

What would be the task of the church here? Isn’t it to allow questions, to promote a culture of learning, to create an environment in which honest questions can be discussed openly? By this I do not mean that one should give priority to a special doctrine in a misunderstood tolerance. Rather, it is about honoring the essential questions of the church, of the people, and giving them a suitable space for discussion. In other words, the understanding of the community should not be exclusive, but inclusive.

• In an exclusive understanding, it would be about “only right, nothing wrong”. It is a black-and-white way of thinking in which uniformity is demanded.
• In an inclusive understanding, people and their questions are welcome. It is about growing understanding, promoting community, exchange and learning. Those who ask questions are always welcome.

Identity

If I imagine a community of the future, a church 2.0 so to speak, then it is about questions of identity, with a clear goal in mind. In the sense of what Paul described:

“But if we are true, we should make everything grow in love, into Him who is the head, Christ.”
Eph 4:15

This sentence is still the guiding principle in many communities today. If we imagine what it takes, then I think there are two ways of looking at it:

1. The personal identity
   The community is a place where everyone comes together for the good of all.
2. The identity of the community
   Carried by Christ, people are accompanied towards Christ.

Here is the challenge:

In some of the communities I was in, people were only looking for a common identity that was binding for everyone in the community. This was at the expense of personal identity and integrity. It is not inviting (inclusive), but expansive (exclusive). This is expressed in comments such as:

“You want to take part in a marriage course even though you’re single? You’re not allowed to.” This is not supportive, but patronizing, unloving and arrogant towards adults. People do not live as a community that travels together, but find security in separation and the justification of supposed authority in paternalism.

Another statement that has stayed with me:

“He’s a gifted musician, but he’s not allowed to play music on stage because he’s unmarried and with a woman”. Both were over 50, came from previous marriages, but obviously didn’t fit in. Then it is excluded. Never mind that their relationship only needed time to develop and even led to a marriage later on (again in line with expectations). The damage was done. Hypocrisy and outward form were obviously more important to the church leadership than genuine, lived holiness.

One last example:

Someone else told me how a gifted writer in the community had ended his own life. After that, no one in this parish was allowed to read his books. This man had not only erased his life out of necessity, but was also erased by the community of which he had been a part all his life. Shocking.

When I hear stories like this, I think, what would Jesus, the apostles and the first churches have done? I also can’t escape the impression that this kind of “community culture” is often just fear-driven. Fear of derailment, of missteps, of “unbiblical” behavior. In the background, there is probably a vengeful God and a threatening message.

Participation

In an inclusive community, people are invited, not because you have secret conversion intentions, but because you are happy to share your own community, your own wealth, with others (2 Corinthians 5:14-21).

I was a member of an English-speaking Reformed congregation in St. Gallen, Switzerland, for many years. The following happened:

One morning, shortly before the start of the service, a drunken man stumbled into the church. He had probably been drinking through the night. Someone picked him up and sat next to him in one of the last rows. After a while he called out loudly through the church, asking if he could do it in German, then he would understand more. They tried to make it clear to him that this service was in English.

A little later, he stood up during the sermon, walked down the center aisle to the front and was caught by the pastor, who spoke to him briefly. He sat down again.

Afterwards, the small congregation met at the front of the church and stood in a circle for bread and wine (communion/eucharist). Pastor and parishioners served each other. It was a shared experience. This drunken man was of course also present, stood in the circle and was of course given bread and wine. He was part of the shared experience and was warmly welcomed.

Neither the identity of the community nor the identity of those present was in danger. Everyone was fine and welcome to celebrate the service together. Weren’t we all perfectly imperfect and in need of God’s grace? In an exclusive understanding, this man’s appearance would be perceived as disruptive. Disruptive in the game called “church”. Here, however, there was an inclusive understanding of the community. It was not a game, but a shared reality in which everyone is aware of the inviting power of God’s grace. I have had several such groundbreaking experiences over the years.

What is the crux of the matter? Community is to be sought not only in teaching, but also in practical community. Faith only becomes effective through love. We can travel with people, even if they are in a different place to us. Of course, the service was celebrated and there was no need to be distracted from it. This identity was not lost. It was also self-evident that this man was welcome. Neither his identity and integrity nor those of the other people present were violated. It was both a human encounter and a shadow of a divine encounter, characterized by grace.

Faith is not only in the mind and personal, but is first lived and learned in the community. A future church should consciously strive for this attitude. Community is formative and necessary for a healthy faith.

Eternity in the heart

Now we can draw the circle a little wider. If it’s not just about the right knowledge, not just about everyone thinking like me, how can you stand in this world?

We could start from this statement from the book of Ecclesiastes:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time; he has also placed eternity in its heart, without man being able to comprehend the work that God has wrought from beginning to end.”
Eccl 3:11

Here the preacher is not talking about believers, and certainly not about a New Testament church of the Pauline model. Here Solomon, the son of David (Ecclesiastes 1:1), speaks about something that God has given to man. This does not affect just a few believers, but simply all people. It is an assessment that could not be more comprehensive.

God has placed eternity (heb. olam) in the heart of man, without man being able to comprehend the work that God has done from beginning to end. In other words, people have received something without automatically understanding everything. He may have an idea, but no knowledge, and certainly no understanding.

This hunch is God-given. We must not underestimate this, but can recognize it as deeply human and at the same time deeply divine. Every person, regardless of origin or faith, and regardless of supposed wisdom or special knowledge, has been given an inkling of what is to come. It is part of the human DNA, so to speak, in a visual language. The Hebrew olam is translated here as “eternity”. In modern Hebrew, it simply stands for “world”. In the context of Scripture, it is often also a reference to the world to come, the age to come, to a time when the misery of this world will be replaced by something better. This is the premonition, as Paul also writes about it:

“For the premonition of creation awaits the unveiling of the sons of God.”
Rom 8:19

The premonition waits and awaits. She longs for the future, so to speak, in the hope that things will get better. You suspect something without knowing exactly what it is. That connects all people. From there, you can continue the conversation without being arrogant.

“For we know that the whole creation groans and travails with us until now. But not only they alone, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For it is for this expectation that we have been saved.”
Rom 8:22-24 CNT

Could this shared foreboding, not knowing or knowing, be a basis for hospitality, for conversation and invitation? Can a Christian community, standing in its own identity, be an inclusive community and meet people honestly and openly? Can we let people with a premonition and their own understanding be part of our community, our meetings and services? Or do they first have to convert and conform to our idea so that they can be properly accepted? Where would you, dear reader, make a difference and why?

Where are the boundaries by which the identity of the community can be measured? These questions about the nature of the community are not yet an answer. Here, each community is called upon to think further. What is the task of the church in this world? Why would that be the case?

Deepening

• Discuss: Do I meet first as a human being or first as a believer? What are the consequences?
• Discuss: Why do I want to experience fellowship with believers?
• Discuss: What if people think differently than I do?
• Discuss: What is the task of the church for you, for believers, for the world?